Syria says suicide bombers kill 28 in AleppoALEPPO, Syria (AP) — Two suicide car bombers struck security compounds in Aleppo on Friday, killing 28 people, Syrian officials said, bringing significant violence for the first time to an industrial center that has largely stood by President Bashar Assad during the 11-month uprising against his rule. Anti-Assad activists denied any involvement and accused the regime of setting off the blasts to smear the opposition as government forces pummel...

Humanitarian crisis deepens in Syrian city of HomsBEIRUT (AP) — Between blasts of rockets and mortar fire, Syrians used loudspeakers to call for blood donations and medical supplies Thursday in the stricken city of Homs, where a weeklong government offensive has created a deepening humanitarian crisis. Government forces are trying to crush pockets of violent resistance in Homs, the epicenter of an 11-month-old uprising that has brought the country ever closer to civil war. The intense shellin...

Mexican army finds 15 tons of pure methamphetamineGUADALAJARA, Mexico (AP) — Mexican troops have made a historic seizure of 15 tons of pure methamphetamine in the western state of Jalisco, an amount equivalent to half of all meth seizures worldwide in 2009. The sheer scale of the bust announced late Wednesday in the western state of Jalisco drew expressions of amazement from meth experts. The haul could have supplied 13 million doses worth over $4 billion on U.S. streets. “This could potentia...

Pakistan: Second US drone strike in 2 days; 3 deadPESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — A U.S. drone fired two missiles at a house in Pakistan’s northwest tribal region, killing three suspected militants in the second such attack in as many days, Pakistani intelligence officials said. The back-to-back strikes could be an indication the drone program is picking up steam again after a slowdown caused by tensions with Pakistan over accidental American airstrikes that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers last year. ...

EU threatens new sanctions on SyriaBEIRUT (AP) — The European Union will impose harsher sanctions on Syria, a senior EU official has said, as Russia tried to broker talks between the vice president and the opposition to calm violence. Activists reported at least 50 killed in the regime’s siege of the restive city of Homs. Russia, a close ally of Syria, and the West are pushing down starkly different paths in trying to deal with Syria’s nearly 11 months of bloodshed. After block...

Officials: US missiles kill 8 people in PakistanPESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — U.S. drone-fired missiles hit a house in Pakistan’s northwest tribal region near the Afghan border Wednesday, killing eight people, Pakistani intelligence officials said. The attack occurred in Spalga village in the North Waziristan tribal area, said the officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media. The identities of those killed were unknown, but the area is domi...

Russia pushes Syria reforms as bloodshed mountsBEIRUT (AP) — Days after blocking a U.S.-backed peace plan at the U.N., senior Russian officials pushed for reforms Tuesday during an emergency meeting with Syrian President Bashar Assad, promoting a settlement to end the uprising without removing him from power. Thousands of flag-waving government supporters cheered the Russians in the Syrian capital of Damascus, while to the north, Assad’s forces pounded the opposition city of Homs — undersc...

Russia, China veto UN resolution on SyriaUNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. Security Council failed again Saturday to take decisive action to stop the escalating violence in Syria as Russia and China vetoed a resolution backing an Arab League plan that calls for President Bashar Assad to step down. The double-veto outraged the U.S. and European council members who feared it would embolden the Assad regime. In an unusual weekend session, 13 members of the council, including the United Sta...

Heavy snow traps many people in BosniaSARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina (AP) — Bosnia’s government declared a state of emergency in its capital on Saturday after Sarajevo was paralyzed by snow, while in Rome residents dug out from the city’s biggest snowfall in 26 years, which shut down the Colosseum. The weeklong cold snap — the worst in decades in Eastern Europe — has killed at least 176 people, many of them homeless, especially in countries such as Ukraine. In Rome, unusually heavy ...

Kidnappers free 2 Americans, Egyptian guideEL-ARISH, Egypt (AP) — Bedouin tribesmen abducted two female American tourists and their Egyptian guide at gunpoint Friday but released them several hours later after negotiations with tribal leaders in the Sinai Peninsula, the region’s security chief said. The brazen daylight abduction along a busy highway was a new blow to Egypt’s vital tourism industry, which has been heavily battered by the unrest following last year’s uprising that ousted...

Iranian leader warns US, Israel against strikesTEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran’s supreme leader pledged Friday to aid any nation or group that challenges Israel and said any military strikes over the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program would damage U.S. interests in the Middle East “10 times over.” The nationally broadcast comments by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei staked out a hard line in apparent replies to suggestions that military strikes are an increasing possibility if sanctions fail to rein in the...

Syrian activists: 200 dead in government assaultBEIRUT (AP) — In a barrage of mortar shells, Syrian forces killed 200 people and wounded hundreds in Homs in an offensive that appears to be the bloodiest episode in the nearly 11-month-old uprising, activists said Saturday. The assault in Homs, which has been one of the main flashpoints of opposition during the uprising, comes as the U.N. Security Council prepares to vote on a draft resolution backing an Arab call for President Bashar Assad t...

Egypt soccer fans rush field after game, 74 deadCAIRO (AP) — At least 74 people were killed and hundreds injured after soccer fans rushed the field in the seaside city of Port Said Wednesday following an upset victory by the home team over Egypt’s top club, setting off clashes and a stampede as riot police largely failed to intervene. It was a bloody reminder of the deteriorating security in the Arab world’s most populous country as instability continues nearly a year after former President...

Japan’s ’Nuclear Alley’ conflicted over reactorsOHI, Japan (AP) — International inspectors are visiting a rugged Japanese bay so thick with reactors it is dubbed “Nuclear Alley,” where residents remain deeply conflicted as Japan moves to restart plants idled after the Fukushima disaster. The local economy depends heavily on the industry, and the national government hopes that “stress tests” at idled plants — the first of which is being reviewed this week by the International Atomic Energy A...

Iran is ready to return to nuclear talksTEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran is ready to revive talks with the U.S. and other world powers, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Thursday, but suggested that Tehran’s foes will have to make compromises to prevent negotiations from again collapsing in stalemate. Iran’s insistence that it will never give up uranium enrichment — the process that makes material for reactors as well as weapons — scuttled negotiations a year ago and still looms as a poten...

Egypt bans travel for US official’s son, 9 othersCAIRO (AP) — Egypt banned at least 10 Americans and Europeans from leaving the country, including the son of U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray Lahood, hiking tensions with Washington over a campaign by Egypt’s military against groups promoting democracy and human rights. The United States warned Thursday that the campaign raised concerns about Egypt’s transition to democracy and could jeopardize American aid that Egypt’s battered economy needs...

Islamists, liberals square off in Egypt’s TahrirCAIRO (AP) — Hundreds of thousands of Egyptians thronged major squares across Egypt on Wednesday to mark the first anniversary of the uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak, in rallies that turned into a show of strength by secular groups in their competition with the country’s powerful Islamists over demands for an end to military rule. Cairo’s Tahrir Square, the epicenter of the 18 days of protests against Mubarak, was transformed into the foca...

A daring raid, and US, Danish hostages on way homeMOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — Held captive since last fall, an ailing American woman and a Danish man are safely on their way home after a bold, dark-of-night rescue by U.S. Navy SEALs. The commandos slipped into a Somali encampment, shot and killed nine captors and whisked the hostages to freedom. The raid’s success was welcome news for the hostages and their families, for the military and for President Barack Obama, who was delivering his State ...

2 more cruise bodies found, oil pumping to beginROME (AP) — Salvage experts can begin pumping fuel from a capsized cruise ship as early as Tuesday to avert a possible environmental catastrophe and the ship is stable enough that search efforts for the missing can continue, Italian officials said. The decision to carry out both operations in tandem was made after instrument readings determined that the Costa Concordia was not at risk of sliding into deeper waters, Franco Gabrielli, chief of t...

Syria rejects new Arab League plan to end crisisBEIRUT (AP) — Syria on Monday rejected the Arab League’s wide-ranging new plan to end the country’s 10-month crisis, saying the League’s call for a national unity government in two months is a clear violation of Syrian sovereignty, as violence raged. Tens of thousands of people poured into the streets in a suburb outside the capital, Damascus to mourn for 11 residents who were either shot dead by security forces or killed in clashes between ar...